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Gov. Walker in Hudson to announce law enforcement initiatives

Gov. Scott Walker, center, visit Hudson Tuesday afternoon with a stop at the Hudson Community Children's Center, 824 Fourth St. Along with the governor were State Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, left, and Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, right.1 / 2

Gov. Scott Walker was at the Hudson Community Daycare on Tuesday afternoon to discuss a series of initiatives designed to protect children against internet crime, fund services for sexual assault victims, provide monitoring of domestic abusers and other dangerous individuals and fund DNA collection for felony and some sexual-related crimes.

The new initiatives are being funded through a $14 million budget allocation.

"One of the basic functions of government is to ensure public safety and health," said Walker. "By enacting these initiatives, Wisconsin will reaffirm its commitment to public safety, protecting our children, and helping crime victims."

The money will be allocated as follows:

--$1 million in state funds and the addition of five new employees in the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force which works to counter the threat of offenders using the internet and technology to exploit children. The new positions will be focused on child sex trafficking.

--$4 million in direct state funding for Sexual Assault Victim Services grants used for crisis response, advocacy for victims and services focused on sexual assault prevention.

--$6 million to pay for local law enforcement to take DNA swabs of all felony arrestees including juveniles and those adults convicted of any misdemeanors as well as a small group of misdemeanor arrests for sexual-related crimes. All records would be purged if charges are dismissed, if the arrestee was found not guilty or a conviction is reversed, set aside or vacated.